Efficient, Friendly, Dependable

Archive for December, 2010

The internet has become a part if not central to a variety of business sectors: primarily because it is now utilised worldwide for a variety of purposes by a notable majority – Undeniably, Internet is now used by a huge number of people (young and old) to purchase products, communicate and just about (‘all in all’) organise their lives: Therefore the fact that more and more medical practitioners are now offering 24/7 online appointment scheduling to their patients seems to make sense.

Online Scheduling

Being fast, efficient and always available (therefore convenient) online appointment scheduling is an advantageous asset for both doctors and patients: Indeed, these systems can help improve overall medical practice management because they are reliable, accurate and fast – Which makes them very cost-effective. Even so, automated web-based scheduling systems are by no means limited to making and breaking a patient appointment. This is just one of their many facets.

New Patient Sign-up

New patient sign-ups traditionally involve a rather lengthy phone call. If the front desk is busy this can lead to all sorts of mis-communications as well as a backlog of paperwork. More advanced systems will allow new patients to signup securely and also make their first patient appointment online. With just a few clicks new patients can have a confirmed appointment – Is it possible to be more hassle free than this? Probably not!

Patient Reminder Calls

Patient Appointment Reminders can also be handled by an online scheduler. Most can carry out automated reminder calls and some can also send reminders via email and SMS at a pre-scheduled time. Patient reminder calls have proven to reduce the percentages with regards to no-shows: Nevertheless, there is not always time to make the call despite the fact this can be detrimental to revenue as well as patient care – A no-show means lost revenue as well as a lost opportunity to see another patient more quickly: Both of which can add up and make a notable difference to waiting lists and profits over the year.

A Cost Effective Asset

An online scheduler can deal with so much more that patient appointment scheduling. Most systems can be customised to suit different health sectors. Indeed, online appointment scheduling has proven to be a valuable and cost-effective asset for many health practitioners

Automated 24/7 Appointment Scheduling and patient appointment reminder systems are being successfully utilised all over the world by both private and fiscal bodies. This is because they are highly efficient, extremely reliable and so very cost-effective. Automated appointment scheduling is not a commodity reserved for government and corporate medical practices. Quite the contrary: These systems have proven to be equally cost-effective for small medical practices as well as sole practitioners: And similarly automated 24/7 patient scheduling is not solely reserved for Doctors!Customised To Suit

While indeed many of the patient appointment scheduling software available has been developed with Doctors in mind some web-based services and software can be easily customised to suit other practitioners working within the healthcare sector: Such as Dentists, Chiropractors and Psychologists as well as those practising more holistic approaches to health care – Reflexologists for example.

Improved Patient Care

Regardless of which health sector you practice within, scheduling patient appointments is an essential part of running your business. When you are already busy dealing with patients in the here and now, scheduling future patient appointments can become difficult – The cause of those constant interruptions which can and do distract you away from patients. Automated patient appointment scheduling can deal with the task easily; allowing you to concentrate upon providing attentive and dedicated patient care: Indeed, an automated appointment scheduling system can free up your time as well as your mind!

Call Reminders

It has been proven time and time again: Patient appointment reminder calls reduce the percentage of no-shows and so increase productivity. A 24/7 patient appointment scheduling system can not only deal with scheduling, many of them can also make routine reminder calls on a daily basis: Some can also send patient appointment reminders by SMS as well as email. Utilising this service alone can increase the bottom line of your business: More often that not, they can and will pay for themselves when comparing the cost of the service to the money saved/extra revenue created.

Consider This…

All things considered it is no surprise that some of the largest and most advanced medical practices in the world are utilising these systems. Invariably, 24/7 patient appointment systems increase patient satisfaction without increasing costs: And in an ever competitive world that is definitely a plus side….

Given the fact that the service of your medical practice begins the moment patients step into your office, it is imperative for you to create a great first impression; and follow it up by providing high quality medical service. This makes your front office staff — in this case your medical receptionist — an important part of your business strategy. Hiring a competent receptionist sometimes may not be enough, because they are still prone to breakdown when things get too hectic in the office. In addition, they are also prone to a multitude of personal problems that may reduce their performance level. This is why you need to have a virtual medical receptionist in place.

It’s a good thing that your medical practice is enjoying a steady influx of patients. But it’s not a good thing when you are struggling to meet the needs of your patients because your staff is overworked. You know you need some help when calls being left unanswered and patients being put on hold for what seems to be an infinity. If you want to lighten the load of your staff — getting a virtual medical receptionist is the ideal solution. By having one in place, your staff can focus on providing the best of service for incoming patients, because calls will be automatically picked up by the virtual receptionist.

A virtual medical receptionist allows patients to book, chance or cancel appointments with ease. It can even answer multiple calls at the same time — so no longer will your patients get a busy tone or being put on hold when calling your office.

The service that a virtual medical receptionist provide is constantly reliable. You can be sure that it will always respond to the patient’s call in a friendly manner. The fact that it is able to hold a natural dialogue in English, French, Chinese, and Spanish is a bonus. The same thing can’t be said about human receptionist. When they are tired or when it’s almost home time, they may start answering the phones in an unprofessional and unfriendly manner.

Aside from being an excellent backup when things get too busy in the office, using the system also allows you to run your office 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You have a dependable system that can respond to your patients’ needs — whether they want to make appointments or change them — all day and night. Additionally, there’s no maintenance fee involved when getting the system and you can let it run without any supervision. Instead of hiring more staff, getting a virtual medical receptionist is a definitely a more cost-effective solution.